


Aftermath

by NixC



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, Blood, Canonical Character Death, Chaos, Hurt No Comfort, Kaidan-centric, M/M, Minor Character Death, the summary has been changed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2015-09-11
Packaged: 2018-04-20 06:04:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4776365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NixC/pseuds/NixC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard, no, John was standing there, anguish written on his face. He looked so scared, so lost. Kaidan had to stop it, he had to save him, he had to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a short little one-shot. This was supposed to be Shepard saying goodbye to Kaidan. I have no idea what happened but this is the result.

John was alive. He was alive and well and with Kaidan on the Normandy. 

But something wasn’t right. Everything was shaking and John made the transition to Shepard in seconds, kind blue eyes turning steely, brow furrowing worriedly as the corners of his mouth fell. The Normandy was being attacked. 

It was under heavy fire. Balls of red energy hailed down on the flickering shields, small bullet-fast pieces of metal, timed just right, occasionally made their way through and dented the hull.

Joker’s panicked shouting carried through the speakers and Kaidan was running. He didn’t know where to or why, just that he needed to do something. He ended up in the infirmary. All the newly formed bright red puddles contrasted violently with the sterile white of the room. Cortez was lying limply on one of the beds, blood seeping through a hole in his head and into his open, unseeing eyes. Liara was in the bed next to him, unconscious, with a dark bruise forming on her temple. Chakwas was almost blurring as she rushed around the room. Liara and Cortez weren’t the only ones in the infirmary but everyone else just faded in the background.

Kaidan got the feeling he was only getting in the way. He was running again. This time he found himself in the cockpit. Joker’s hands were flying over the controls, while EDI’s disembodied voice threw commands at him. Kaidan recalled seeing her body on his way to the infirmary. He hadn’t even thought to check if she was ok.

The orange light of the controls was getting brighter. It flitted over Joker’s face, outlining the already obvious fear. Slowly it grew until it engulfed the pilot and Kaidan felt a stifling heat creeping up his spine. He heard screaming behind him. The ship had stopped shaking and somehow he knew the shields were down. Whoever was attacking them was boarding the ship. EDI’s voice cut off mid-sentence. He turned round, feeling his biotics build up beneath his skin, but stopped short. 

Shepard, no, John was standing there, anguish written on his face. There were tears in his eyes, bruises on his tan skin and blood on his lips. Kaidan reached out a trembling hand. He couldn’t bear seeing him like that. He had to do something – anything. 

A paper white arm drew forward from the dark abyss that had once been the entrance. A black inky substance ran in rivulets down to its fingers where it painted the whole hand and dripped off the nails. It wrapped itself around John’s neck, while another hand – this one with claws, latched onto his side. They were pulling him into the shadows. Unadulterated fear crossed his face for a split second and Kaidan jerked forward. The ‘ink’ was spreading over John’s skin like corruption and he looked so scared, so lost. Kaidan had to stop it, he had to save him, he had to.

He couldn’t move. God no, John needed him and he was frozen. He couldn’t do anything but watch helplessly as the light in those eyes he loved so much died. It hurt too much, he wanted to look away. Why couldn’t he look away?

A third arm shot out, John’s body went rigid with pain. His eyes glazed over. Just before he went limp three words ripped their way from his mouth: “Help me, Kaidan.”

Major Kaidan Alenko wrenched awake after yet another nightmare. He could feel droplets of cold sweat rolling down his forehead and hear his heart thumping in his ears. He groaned, rubbing his eyes in a fruitless attempt to wake himself up. He laid there for a few minutes longer, blinking away the burning sensation in his eyes he felt every time he dreamt of John. 

Sighing, he threw the covers off and swung his legs around to sit on the side of the bed in one smooth motion. He had to calm down and get on with the day.

**Author's Note:**

> I might add more to this so I can make it go back around to the original idea.


End file.
